Paul confronts Chris
by Franco Nixon
Summary: Cathy goes to the hospital. Paul tells her it was nothing to worry about, but he knows the truth and wants answers.


"Chris! Is Cathy going to be okay?"

I looked up from my hands to see tiny Carrie running down the hospital hallway. Hennie followed behind her at a slower pace, but she looked just as worried. I tightened my lips and then stood up to meet her. She ran into my arms and wrapped herself around me.

"Paul is down the hall right now with the doctor. He'll come tell us everything when he can. Come sit with me," I said as calmly as I could. I couldn't let Carrie see that I was just as terrified as she was about losing Cathy. Another sibling. We sat down and she leaned against me, silently crying.

I petted her hair and murmured words to soothe her while inside I wanted to scream and run into her room, demanding to know what was going on. I forced myself to stay put and console my sister. Twenty minutes after Carrie's arrival Paul and the doctor treating Cathy came from down the hall and walked silently towards us. I stood up and straightened my shirt and pants. Paul's face was grim. They reached us and Paul motioned with his hand.

"Chris, can we have a word? Carrie, please stay with Hennie. We'll go in and see Cathy soon," he promised. He forced a smile for her, but when his eyes turned back to me they were cold. I gulped. He turned and directed me to follow him. The doctor stayed back with Carrie and Hennie.

We went to the room they had just come from. It was a simple office. A large chair sat behind a neat desk, with two chairs in front of it. There were filing cabinets against the walls, but otherwise the room was bare. Paul moved and sat behind the desk, while urging me to take a seat in front of him. I did so and clasped my hands. Play stupid, admit nothing, I repeated in my head a few times as I waited for him to speak.

He stared at me for a long moment before sighing and setting his hands on the desk, leaning forward. When he still remained silent I decided maybe I should speak.

"Do they know what happened to Cathy?"

His jaw tightened and he sat back again.

"Actually yes, they do Chris. Cathy has just had to undergo a DC."

The world around me stopped. My eyes widened and for the first time in my life my mind went completely blank. DC? That only happens when you're-. I looked back at Paul who was studying me carefully. Play stupid, admit nothing. I gulped and looked away. That was a sure sign of guilt. I knew it and so did he.

"What is that?" I asked, although I knew exactly what it was. I had read about it in the books I had found in the attic.

"A DC is a surgical procedure that a woman goes through when she wants an abortion or has a miscarriage. Considering Cathy never came to me about an abortion, the doctors have diagnosed it as a miscarriage."

"Miscarriage?" I said finally, my voice was barely above a whisper. Glancing up I saw him nodding.

"Yes. It seems that Cathy was about twelve weeks pregnant. Were you aware of her condition?" He asked me and I shook my head vehemently.

"No sir." I decided that the shorter my answers the better. He frowned and appeared to be thinking hard about something. I hung my head down, allowing my hair to fall in front of my face. We had created a baby. We had been so careless about what we had been doing and neglected to think about the consequences.

"Is she okay?" I said eventually.

"She will recover. Chris, do you have something to tell me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to seem surprised and clueless. He gave me a bored look.

"I took the three of you in under the pretense that you and your sisters were homeless runaways. Every time I try to question any of you I get nothing but tight lips and no answers. So, given the current circumstances I am going to demand answers or ask that the three of you leave my home. I do not like the idea of being lied to."

I gulped, considering his words. I couldn't tell him the truth. Not everything.

"Okay. I understand. I will answer any questions you may have as best as I can," I said, my jaw tight. I hated him in that moment.

"I don't have many. I am a reasonable man. I believe the three of you have been through some serious trauma and I don't feel the need to know every little detail, but I need to understand how to proceed with everything. So, my first question is a simple one. Christopher, are Cathy and Carrie really your sisters?"

"What?" I whipped my head up and stared at him, mouth agape.

"I have heard you throw around the name Foxworth while Cathy claims her last name is Dollanganger. I also feel that with how close you two are it is safe to assume that you may have been the one to impregnate her. I think you two were in love and ran away. Am I correct?"

I stared at him for a long moment. How had we not thought of that? It was genius. However, the idea of lying to someone so kind felt wrong. I licked my lips and decided on a half-lie.

"My family name is Foxworth, you are correct." I looked away, back at my nervous hands.

"Are you the father of Cathy's unborn child?"

I nodded. Tears were welling in the corner of my eyes but I quickly brushed them away. What had Cathy and I done?

"Yes. I'm sorry, I really did not know." I explained truthfully. His face visibly relaxed as he nodded.

"It's okay. Thank you for being honest with me. I knew that Cathy would lie to me if I confronted her."

"Are you going to send me away? Back... there?" I asked. We couldn't go without each other. If I left so would she. So would Carrie. He sighed and crossed his arms.

"No. Well, not exactly. I intend on sending the three of you to private schools, as I promised. However, I am curious. Why did you disguise yourselves as brother and sister, while being- intimate?"

I gave him a half-smile, and decided to embrace his lie.

"We were afraid that we would be separated. If someone reported us to the authorities and tried to put us in Foster homes. My family has forbidden almost everything that doesn't serve God and Cathy's mother doesn't want her. We can't go back. Wherever she goes, I go." I told him firmly and he nodded.

"Alright. I suppose I can understand that. However, now that the truth has been revealed, I think we can do away with the sibling story. I will keep the three of you as my wards, but you will now be Christopher Foxworth. If you two plan on continuing a relationship it is best that people don't think you are-." He grimaced, considering what was actually the truth. I felt like I had just been socked in the stomach. It was true, what we had done was disgusting and wrong. It was a sin against God, and yet, I was going to go along with this version of events just so we could continue the sin. If that was what Cathy wanted. I nodded.

"Alright. So what now? Am I in trouble? For... Cathy's condition?" I gulped, remembering the truth. The baby that was almost born.

"How do you think Cathy will react to the truth?" He asked me. I looked at him in shock. She would have a total meltdown. Cathy was not able to control her emotions. She would tell the truth and ruin everything. He would without a doubt kick us to the curb, throwing our bags on top of us.

"Not well. We should not have even been..." I fell silent and he agreed with me.

"You're very right. She is only fifteen. She is a talented and extremely beautiful young woman. It would be a shame to see her lose everything she could have because a boy got her in trouble. And you, Christopher. You are rather smart and wise beyond your age. You are seventeen going on thirty-five. I think with the proper schooling you can and will become the doctor you long to be. But you won't succeed if you have to quit school and take on a job to care for a newborn."

I nodded, considering his words.

"Do you know what a condom is?" He asked, opening a drawer in the desk he produced a small square. Was it a band-aid? I shook my head and he sighed, tearing the package open. He pulled out a circular plastic thing and began unfurling it. Realization dawned on me and I could feel my face burning with shock and embarrassment. He chuckled at my reaction and offered it to me. I shook my head and he raised it, pointing out what to do with it. I understood pretty quickly but watched him anyways. Once he was satisfied he threw it and its packaging in the trash bin next to the desk.

"I am going to give you a box of them for you to use. Now, that is not me giving you permission to go crazy, but as a man, I understand that sometimes when you are presented with a beautiful woman, it's hard to say no. So, you need to use one every single time. Unless you want another situation like this." He gave me a stern look and I gulped, nodding again.

"Yes sir."

"If you can agree to protect yours and Cathy's future, I can agree to not tell Cathy the truth about what has happened today. We will tell her that it was because of her irregular periods. She doesn't have to know."

"I agree! Sir, I will do whatever you want me to do. Just don't send us away, or tell her. She'd never forgive her, or myself. It would ruin her."

"Alright. Well, let's go out there and see her. Her doctor has agreed to keep her true diagnosis to himself and we can tell her together what we believe happened. I'm sure Carrie is dying to see her as well." He stood up and I quickly joined him. He gave me a tight, awkward smile and patted me on the back as we exited the room.

As we walked down the hall, all I could think about was Cathy and our unborn child. We had created a life, and God, knowing what we had done, killed it. If he had ever wanted to show us a sign, this was it. But as I contemplated this, I couldn't help but think of how selfish I was being. I was now Christopher Foxworth and she was Catherine Dollanganger. Paul had wanted to give us freedom with insisting I change my name, but now it just felt... wrong.

Reaching Carrie I helped her stand and with a pause at the door I closed my eyes and prayed to the God I had been ignoring for years. I asked that he forgive me for what we had done and what I was about to do. I entered the room and locked eyes with the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. The only woman I would ever love. She gave me a weak smile and it was then that I realized the real question was not if God could forgive me, but could I forgive myself?


End file.
